The Ultimate Web Hosting Glossary

Peter Prestipino

Posted on 3.13.2012

Like many areas of the Web, perhaps even more than others, Web hosting features a slew of technical terms that can appear intimidating, at best, to the casual listener. For most people in the business world, even the online business world, understanding hosting slang can feel like trying to learn a new language altogether. But, that's why there's Website Magazine, right?

You may never fully understand the jargon that your
IT staff and hosting provider routinely toss about, but it doesn’t mean you at
least can’t follow along. Check out this handy Web hosting glossary that our editorial staff has compiled.

Active Channel: A
channel hosted on a Web server that features frequently updated information

Active Server Pages:
Special pages that allow Web developers to create dynamic by using
database-driven content. Content is generally produced on the server-side.

Apache: A popular
open source public-domain Web server that provides users with CGI, SSL and virtual
domains. Apache’s open source code allows users to adapt the server to suit
their unique needs, which provides them with strong performance, security and
reliability. This is the most widely used Web server on the Internet.

Applet: A small
Java-based program that runs in a sandbox and is embedded into a website to
allow users to create virtual objects that can move or interact with the site.

Archive: Large
files that contain valuable data

Auto Responder: A
program that automatically detects the receipt of an email and replies to the
sender with a prepared response letting them know of their message’s reception.
These programs can be set up in a user’s control panel.

Availability: See
Uptime

Backups: Data
from customers that Web hosts copy (typically once a day) in case of a loss of
data situation. Backups allow hosts to easily restore lost data.

Bandwidth: The
amount of information transferred both to and from a website or server during a
prescribed period of time, usually measured in bytes. Hosting companies
generally offer packages that come with different bandwidth transfer limits
(typically on a monthly basis).

Bit Rate: The
speed that bits, the smallest units of digital information, are transferred
over a communication link

Cookie: A message
sent from a Web server to a browser, where it is then stored in a text file and
sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from that server.
This helps sites identify users and prepare customized Web pages for them.

Cron: The ability
to run programs based on a server’s clock

Data Transfer:
See Bandwidth

Database: Data
stored on a Web server in a structured format

Dedicated Hosting:
When a user rents or leases his/her own Web server that is housed a hosting
provider’s facilities for easy management, a high-speed connection, security,
backup power and technical support

Dedicated IP: See
Static IP

Disk Space: The
amount of space available for users to house their website files on a host’s
server. Also a reference to the amount of storage space allocated to a user or
the user’s website.

Domain Name: An
address assigned to a website for identification purposes that can be
translated by a DNS into a server’s IP address that includes a TLD

Domain Name System
(DNS): Keeps a database of domain names and their corresponding IP
addresses, so that when a user searches for a domain name, the request can be
routed to the server where the website resides

Domain Parking:
The ability to hold a domain name on a hosting server without the service
provider requiring that users have the corresponding website up and running

Domain Registrar:
A company responsible for managing domain names and helping users secure the
rights to a specific domain name

Downtime: A
period of time when a website, or an entire server system, is unavailable

Email Forwarder:
A program that will automatically forward a received email message to a
specified remote email address

Encryption:
Encoding data with a cryptographic cipher so that only authorized entities can
view it

Extensible Markup
Language (XML): A meta-programming language used to specify other document
types being used on the Web

File Transfer
Protocol (FTP): A commonly used method for exchanging files over the
Internet by uploading or downloading files to a server

Filename Extension:
A tag that appears at the end of each file name consisting of a dot and then
three or four letters that signify the type of file and format

Formmail: An
application that lets users create interactive forms and include them on their
websites to let visitors submit information

Frontpage: A
server-side, HTML editor for website creation from Microsoft

Frontpage Extension:
Scripts and programs installed on a server that allow sites, or features of
sites, created with Microsoft Frontpage to operate smoothly

FTP Client: A
software that lets two computers transfer files over the Internet

Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML): The cross-platform language in which the majority of Web
pages are written. Codes are interpreted by browsers to be properly formatted
for visitors.

Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP): The primary protocol for transferring and receiving data
on the Web that involves a browser connecting to a server, sending a request
that specifies its capabilities and then receiving the appropriate data from
the server in return

Internet Message
Access Protocol (IMAP): A protocol that allows a client’s email program that
receives and holds email message on a hosting service. It allows for access to
remote messages stored on a mail server that features operations for creating,
deleting and renaming mailboxes, checking new messages and searching and
parsing old ones.

IP Filtering:
Limiting access to a website by excluding a single IP or a block of addresses

Java: A
platform-independent, crash-protected, object-oriented programming language for
writing servlets that can run server-side, in browsers and on independent
programs

Java Servlet:
Java-based programs written to produce dynamic pages that run on servers

JavaScript: A
client-side programming language supported by all popular browsers that can be
embedded into HTML pages to create interactive features and perform tasks

Log Files: Text
documents that chronicle activity about each visit to a website or server,
including IP, time, data and other relevant information

Mailbox: Unique
accounts for each individual who receives mail at a specific domain

Mailing List:
Groups of email accounts that make it simple to send a single email to any
number of recipients (all of those included in the list)

Managed Hosting:
A system wherein a user owns or leases a server that is located with the
service provider, where all of its management needs are taken care of by
on-site personnel

Mirror Site: An
FTP site that stores that exists to store the exact some content as another
site to minimize the load placed on a particular server and increase
reliability

MySQL: An open
source relational database that is a subset of ANSI SQL

Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC): A generic standard that allows applications to connect
with databases that interprets information between the two. ODBC sources allow
sites to point to the correct database located on a server.

Open PGP/GPG
Encryption: An email encryption standard used for signing, encrypting and
de-crypting emails

Open SSL: A
(required) application for users that want to use their own SSL certificates.
It requires a dedicated IP address and allows users to equip their sites with
SSL security.

Operating System (OS):
A program that manages computer and/or server hardware, providing common
services for application software

PHP: An open
source scripting language whose cammonds are embedded in the HTML of a Web page
and executed by a server. It is browser-independent, and browsers only see the
resulting HTML output.

Post Office Protocol
(POP): An email retrieval standard with which all messages are downloaded
at once and can only be manipulated on a client machine

Practical Extraction
and Report Language (Perl): Open source CGI scripting programming language
optimized for scanning text files and extracting the information from them

Protocol: Rules
that govern the ways in which two parties can communication and share
information

Python: An
interpreted, interactive, object-oriented and extensible programming language
usually used for server-side scripting

Redundant Array of
Independent Disks (RAID): A method used to store data on multiple hard
disks and then link the information so an OS sees all of them as a single
entity. RAID can be configured in various forms using both hardware and
software.

Relational Database:
A collection of data organized as a set of formalized tables that allow said
data to be accessed or reassembled in many different ways

Root Server:
Machines with the software and data necessary for locating name servers
containing authoritative data for TLDs

Secure HTTP (SHTTP):
An HTTP protocol that uses encryption to protect the traffic between the server
and browser

Secure Shell (SSH):
A command interface and protocol that allows for secure access to a remote
computers by providing strong authentication and encrypted communications

Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL): Protocol (developed by Netscape Communications) that provides
encryption for commercial transactions between browsers and servers containing
data that absolutely must be protected. Websites that wish to use SSL will need
to get a certificate from an official Certificate Authority.

Server-Side Includes
(SSI): Files that can be included when Web pages are parsed that instruct
servers to add dynamic information (i.e. dates, polling data) to the page
before it’s sent to the client

Shared Hosting: A
system in which multiple clients and websites share a single server, with each
account having specific limits as to how much space they get and data they can
transfer. This is the most basic and affordable type of hosting.

Shopping Cart:
Software that lets website visitors select, add and remove products and pay for
them online. The software automatically calculates extra price considerations,
such as tax and shipping, and then sends all of the information to the merchant
once the transaction is complete.

Site Builder: An
application offered by hosting service providers that allows users to create a
website from scratch based on predesigned templates without requiring knowledge
of HTML. The finished sites then run the hosts’ servers and can be accessed and
used through a Web browser.

Static IP: A
unique and unchanging IP address given to a website by the hosting provider

Streaming: When
visitors play (generally compressed) audio or video multimedia files without
requiring a full download. This usually requires a lot of bandwidth.

Structured Query
Language (SQL): A programming language used to update and perform queries
on relational databases, which all share a common subset of SQL

Subdomains:
Third-level domains, meaning addresses that replace the typical WWW. And send visitors so a special URL (i.e.
subdomain.website.com) that requests from a different directory within the
original website

Support:
Technical help provided by Web hosting companies, usually via phone or email,
to correct any problems that customers may encounter

Top-Level Domain
(TLD): The domain name element to the far right of the address (i.e. .com,
.net or .org)

Traffic: The data
being transferred over a network, typically between the browser and server

Uniform Resource
Locator (URL): The standard for giving the address of a resource on the
World Wide Web that makes up a Web pages full unique address using alphanumeric
characters

UNIX: A powerful,
flexible OS designed for multi-user applications and the most frequently used
OS for servers on the World Wide Web

Unmanaged Hosting:
A system wherein a user owns or leases his/her own server and is fully
responsible for the management of it, including troubleshooting, maintenance,
applications and security

Uptime: The
amount of time in a 24-hour period in which a system is active and able to
service requests

Web Hosting:
Service that provides a physical location, space and storage, connectivity and
services for websites that allow their files to be accessed and viewed by users
on the World Wide Web. Sites are created and then uploaded to a Web hosting
service provider’s server. Some of the services providers offer are email
addresses, free site builders and databases, among many other things.

Webmail: Service
used to access email through a browser that is accessible on almost any
computer. Instead of downloading email messages straight to a computer, webmail
services allow for the sending, receiving and storing of emails on a mail
server.

Wiki: Wikis are a
type of online content, usually in the form of collaborative websites, which
can be edited by any users who have been given access to it. They also provide
an easy way to link from one wiki page to another.